In Place: Public Reception
In Place features the work of Aberrant Architecture London, UK as the focus and departure point for a group exhibition that includes four North American practices that share similar interests, processes, and outcomes. The exhibition showcases six Aberrant projects that have emerged from socially-engaged design practices, using deep research and storytelling as tools to create site-specific installations.
Featured North American projects include Amateur Intelligence Radio Saint Paul, Minnesota by Daily tous les jours, Recycling Words Winnipeg, Manitoba by KANVA, The Fogo Island De-Centralized Academy Fogo, Newfoundland by Nicole Lattuca, and La table de la Mduse Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec by Dean Baldwin, all requiring interaction to activate the work, and resulting in an experience that connects individuals with a specific place.
Part of TO DOs inaugural International Guest of Honour Program, this exhibition is curated by the Toronto Design Offsite Festival with Nuria Montblanch, and co-presented with Harbourfront Centre. It is generously supported by the Government of Ontario, the British Council, and Toronto Arts Council with funding from the City of Toronto.
Participants
Aberrant Architecture, KANVA, Daily tous les jours, Nicole Lattuca, Dean Baldwin
BIOGRAPHIES
Aberrant Architecture
Combining storytelling and research at the heart of their practice, Aberrant Architecture takes a playful approach to producing spatial experiences that are both meaningful and beautiful. Their participatory form of practice places the needs of people at the centre of the problems they address and the opportunities they create. Aberrant designs interactive architecture, interiors, public art, exhibitions and installations, building close relationships with the communities in which they operate.
Founded by David Chambers and Kevin Haley in 2010, Aberrant has exhibited work at international architecture exhibitions at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Gwangju Design Biennale, Sao Paulo Biennial and the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale, and co-founded the Gopher Hole, an event space in London. Aberrant Architecture held the first architecture residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum V&A; their work has been collected by the V&A and the Museum of Art in Rio de Janeiro.
KANVA
KANVA is a multidisciplinary collective led by Tudor Radulescu and Rami Bebawi. Founded in 2003, KANVA demonstrates architectures transformative power through a range of disciplines and scales, from the ephemeral to the institutional. The collectives work has been featured in international publications such as Azure, Canadian Architect, Architecture Mouvement Continuit, Dezeen, ArchDaily, Designboom, Phaidon Atlas, and The New York Times.
They are the recipients of a number of awards such as the 2015 RAIC Emerging Architectural Practice Award, 2013 RAIC Award of Excellence; multiple Grands Prix du Design Awards and the Illuminating Engineering Society Award. Most recently, KANVA received the 2017 Canada Council for the Arts Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture.
Daily tous les jours
Montreal-based Daily tous les jours leads multidisciplinary projects at the intersection of interaction design and narrative environments. They transform everyday life with enchanting scenarios, igniting in people a sense of what is possible. Their projects focus on collective experiences in public spaces, they are opportunities to enable change, stimulate engagement that sparks conversations amongst strangers, and create strong bonds between citizens and their environment.
Founded in 2010 by Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat, Daily tous les jours are also very active in the new media and design communities, giving lectures and workshops worldwide.
Nicole Lattuca
Nicole Lattuca works with the expanded fields of art and architecture, including attention towards social justice issues. She creates spaces for debate, reciprocity, and the processing of ideas. Sometimes this manifests as a curated exhibition, and sometimes as a participatory co-design workshop.
Originally from Massachusetts, USA, Lattuca received her MA in Exhibition and Museum Studies from the San Francisco Art Institute. She has held professional positions at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal; and Fogo Island Arts, Newfoundland. Her work has been presented at international conferences on education within the museum field. Throughout her career, Lattuca has curated exhibitions, public programs, and educational initiatives that take the form of discursive practices, participation, and co-design workshops.
www.nicole-lattuca.squarespace.com
Dean Baldwin
Dean Baldwin constructs temporary large-scale architectural structures as immersive social environments within which he plays the role of host. Providing a party atmosphere where food and alcohol are often shared with the public, these performative hybrid spaces subvert the traditional protocols and conventions of museums and galleries allowing a fully interactive experience with the artwork.
Baldwin studied Fine Arts at York University Toronto as well as completing his MFA at Concordia University Montreal. Baldwin has participated in numerous national and international residencies, including stays in Venice, Dublin, and Mumbai. He has had solo projects at MOCCA Toronto, the Art Gallery of Ontario Toronto, Contemporary No.9 Toronto, Centre Clark Montreal and Volta 5 Basel, Switzerland. Notable group exhibitions include the 2013-2014 touring MASS MoCA exhibition Oh Canada, a feature at the Art Gallery of Alberta, participation in the Sculpture Bienniale Saint-Port de Joli, as well as the Junction Arts Festival Tasmania, and inclusion in the 2011 Quebec Triennial.
